Finns: The Dutch asked us to keep Buk missile test secret

HELSINKI – Finland’s president says the Netherlands had asked the Nordic country to keep secret some tests it made with Russian-built missiles similar to the one believed to have downed a Malaysian passenger jet over Ukraine in 2014.

President Sauli Niinisto said Friday that Finland decided to confirm it made tests in late 2015 after the Dutch went public with Finland’s role in an international probe investigating the downing that killed all 298 people aboard the plane.

Niinisto stopped short of giving details about the tests.

Finland began operating Buk missile systems in 1996 as part of an old bilateral trade deal with its Russian neighbour.

Dutch-led criminal investigators say they have solid evidence that the Malaysian jet was shot down by a Buk missile moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia.

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